Purpose: The role of preoperative radiotherapy for patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer remains controversial. Since 1985, the primary modality for treatment of these patients at our institution has been radical cystectomy alone. Prior to that time, the use of preoperative and cystectomy had been the mainstay of treatment. In this retrospective review we compare the results of these treatments, focusing on local control.
Methods and materials: The preoperative radiotherapy and radical cystectomy (PREOP) group was comprised of 338 patients with muscle-invasive (Stages T2-T4) transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder treated between 1960 and 1983. A mean total dose of 49.3 +/- 0.2 Gy (+/- SE) was administered at 2 Gy per fraction 4-6 weeks prior to cystectomy. The radical cystectomy alone (CYST) group was comprised of 232 patients treated between 1985 and 1990. The median follow-up for the PREOP group was 91 months and for the CYST group was 54 months. Only those patients who completed planned PREOP (n = 301) and CYST (n = 220) treatments were included in the analyses described below.
Results: The treatment groups were stratified by clinical stage and compared in terms of actuarial local control. There were no differences between the groups for Stage T2 or T3a patients, and there were not enough Stage T4 patients in the PREOP group with which to make a meaningful comparison. However, for those with T3b disease, actuarial 5 year local control for the PREOP group (n = 92) was 91%, compared to 72% for the CYST group (n = 43). This difference was significant at p = 0.003 (log rank). Patients with T3b disease who received PREOP also fared slightly better at 5 years in terms of freedom from distant metastasis (67% vs. 54%), disease freedom (59% vs. 47%), and overall survival (52% vs. 40%); although, these differences did not reach statistical significance. The distribution of prognostic factors in the groups was analyzed to determine if this could account for the differences in local control in Stage T3b patients. For patients with Stage T3b disease, the only significant difference was by grouped age (p < 0.05, chi-square), which was not a significant factor in the univariate analyses of local control. A multivariate analysis using Cox proportional hazards models revealed pretreatment hemoglobin, blood urea nitrogen (BUN) concentration, and treatment type (PREOP vs. CYST) to be independently predictive of local control.
Conclusion: We document here in a large number of patients treated at a single institution that preoperative radiotherapy had a significant impact on local control for patients with clinical Stage T3b disease. Because the CYST patients were treated using modern-day surgical techniques and 80% of those with Stage T3b disease received multiagent chemotherapy, it is probable that any biases, if present, would favor the CYST group. Thus, the differences between PREOP and CYST described may be underestimated. Preoperative radiotherapy should be considered as an adjunct to chemotherapy and surgery for clinical Stage T3b patients.